Commodity confining and display band



Feb. 14, 1961 M, E RI M 2,971,641

COMMODITY CONFINING AND DISPLAY BAND Filed July 28, 1958 (Hlll' UnitedStates Patent i COMMODI'I'Y CONFINING AND DISPLAY BAND Milton E. Griem,Milwaukee, Wis., assiguor to Milprint, Inc., Milwaukee, Wis., acorporation of Delaware Filed July 28, 1958, Ser. No. 751,359

4 Claims. (Cl. 206-46) The present invention relates in general toimprovements inthe art of protectively wrapping commodities in order tofacilitate handling and merchandising thereof, and it relates morespecifically to improvements in the construction and operation ofprotective confining and display bands for diverse types of enwrappedcommodity packages.

The primary object of this invention is to provide an improved bandadapted to be applied about a relatively flat flexible article or groupof articles so as to protectively confine the commodity while visiblydisplaying the contents of the final package.

It is well-known procedure, especially in the food merchandisingindustry, to enclose groups of edgewise overlapping slices or individuallayers of diverse commodities such as sausage, bacon, ham, cheese, orthe like, in sealed highly flexible transparent wrappers, and to confinethe enclosed product within or to mount the same upon a stifier supportof cardboard or the like, in order to prevent undesirable disturbance ofthe contents due to rough handling. When slices or layers of commodityhave been thus enwrapped, the sealedmarginal edges of the wrappersusually extend some distance beyond the confined materials so that it isdesirable in order to produce an aesthetic final package to cover thesesealed edge portions and to merely provide a local window opening in theprotective support through which the contents are visible. Then too, inorder to prevent the protective support from becoming detached, itisalso preferable to lock the same to or about the enwrapped commodityby a normally invisible latch which should, however, be readilyreleasable for removal of the contents of the package, and in any event,the protective hand must be inexpensive and readily manipulable.

It is therefore an important object of the present invention to providea simple commodity confining and display band especially applicable toone or more layers or slices of product wrapped in a transparent sealedwrapper, which may be readily applied to or removed from the sealedpackage.

Another important object of this invention is to provide a relativelystiff support for flat flexible packages loaded with diversecommodities, which will efiectively protect the packages againstunintentional breakage or disfiguration due to rough handling.

A further important object of the invention is to provide an improvedprotecting collar for embracing relatively flat packages containingcommodity visibly cou- 2,971,641 Patented Feb. 14, 1961 An additionalimportant object of this invention is to provide an improved compositecommodity package comprising a relatively flat commodity-laden andconfining relatively thin and flexible inner wrapper snugly embraced bya more durable and rigid outer wrapper capable of being convenientlyapplied to or removed from the commodity.

These and other more specific objects and advantages of the inventionwill be apparent from the following detailed description from which itwill be noted that the gist of the improvement is the provision of aprotective commodity confining and display band comprising a unitaryblank of cardboard or the like having a commodity supporting panel and awindow opening bounded along one side by an edge of the panel and alongits opposite side by a flap connected to said panel edge by spacedopposite end bounding strips for the window, the flap and stripsbeingfoldable over edge portions of the commodity resting upon the paneland the flap having thereon a locking tongue projecting into the windowof the fiat blank but which is interlockable with the panel when theband is assembled.

A clear conception of one commercial embodiment of the invention and ofthe mode of applying the same in an assembled composite package, may behad by referring to the drawing accompanying and forming a part of thisspecification in which like reference characters designate the same orsimilar parts in the various views.

Figure 1 is a plan view of a flat unitary blank forming a commodityembracing band and support, and embodying the improvement;

Figure 2 is a top View of the same blank partially folded and having acommodity-laden package provided with a transparent wrapper, disposedupon the main panel of the blank;

Figure 3 is another view similar to that of Fig. 2, but showing theprotective baud further folded about the commodity-laden package; and

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the final band-embraced compositecommodity package assembly with portions broken away in order to moreclearly reveal the band locking means.

While the invention has been shown and described herein as beingadvantageously applicable to package assemblages wherein the commoditycomprises a group of overlapping slices of meat or the like confinedwithin a transparent pouch of wrapping material, it is not intended tolimit the use of the improved protective band support to such commodityenclosures, and it is also contemplated that specific descriptive-termsemployed herein be given the broadest possible interpretation consistentwith the actual disclosure. 7

Referring to the drawing, the improved commodityconfining and displayband shown therein, comprises a unitary fiat blank of sheet materialhaving a commoditysupporting panel 6 provided with a T-shaped slit 7 andalso having therein a window opening 8 bounded along one side by an edge9 of the panel remote from the slit and along its opposite side by aflap 10 which is connected to the'edge 9 of the panel by spaced oppositeends bounding strips 11 for the window; and a locking tongue 12 formedintegral with the flap 10 and being die-cut out of the stock removed informing the Window openend 14 of substantially the same width as that ofthe slit 7 and has its opposite end foldably connected to the outer sideedge of the flap 10 along a fold line 15, and the inner side edge ofthis flap 10 is likewise foldably connected to the adjacent ends of thetwo spaced parallel strips 11 along fold lines 16 while the oppositeends of commodity such as meat, cheese or the like, confined and sealedwithin a flexible transparent pouch or wrapper 19 usually formed of anysuitable type of plastic film and which may be provided with one or moresealed seams 20 extending along its edges. These packages are relativelyflat and when carelessly, handled without being provided with a stifieror more rigid support, the commodity slices 18 are apt to becomedisplaced and disarranged.

However, when the improved unitary supporting band has been properlyconstructed as disclosed in Fig. l, the sealed package containing theslices 18 confined within the pouch 19 by the sealed seams 20, may beinitially placed upon the supporting panel 6 and the fiap 10 may befolded against the ends of-the strips 11 along the fold lines 16 so asto somewhat reduce the effective size of the window opening 8 as shownin Fig. 2. The strips 11 with the pre-folded flap 10, may thereafter befolded along the fold lines 17 over the panel 6 and the commoditypackage resting thereon as illustrated in Fig. 3, to cause the strips11.to cover and conceal theopposite ends of the package and to alsocause the flap 10 to likewise cover and conceal the seam 20 while thetongue 12 projects laterally away from the assemblage. In order tocomplete the package assembly, it is then only necessary to fold thetongue 12 along its fold line beneath the panel 6 and to insert thewidened tongue end 14 through the slit 7 as in Fig. 4, thereby lockingthe band in place about the food-laden pouch 19.

When thus assembled, the cardboard panel 6 obviously provides arelatively rigid support for the commodity confining package, and thewindow opening 8 visibly exposes a large medial portion of the pouch 19to view, while the strips 11 and the flange 10 protectively cover theend edges and seam of the sealed package and press the latter againstits mounting panel 6. The locking tongue 12 serves to snugly maintainthe supporting and protecting band wrapped around the flat package,

but this tongue 12 may be readily inserted within the slit 7 or removedtherefrom, and is normally concealed from view while the contents of thepackage is being displayed through the window opening 8. By cutting thistongue 12 out of the stock removed in the formation of the windowopening 8, minimum waste of sheet stock results and the cost ofproducing the bands is therefore minimized and the improvedcompositepackage has proven highly satisfactory and successful and canobviously be produced in various sizes and utilized to protectively packdiverse commodities either directly or confined within wrappers 19 asshown.

It should be understood that it is not desired to limit this inventionto the exact details of construction of the wrapper band hereinspecifically shown and described, since various modifications within thescope of the appended claims may occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. A commodity confining and display band comprising, a unitary flatblank of sheet material having a window opening bounded along one sideby a commodity supporting panel and along its opposite side by a flapthe opposite ends of which are connected directly to the panel ends bywindow endbounding strips while its medial portion is provided with alocking tongue projecting into the window opening toward the panel, saidstrips being foldable relative to both said panel and said flap alonglines coinciding with opposed sides of said window opening and saidtongue being foldable relative to said flap along a line coinciding withthe line of fold of said flap.

2. A commodity confining and display band comprising, a unitary flatblank of sheet material having a window opening bounded along one sideby a commodity supporting panel and along its opposite side by a flapthe opposite ends of which are connected directly to the panel ends bywindow end bounding strips while its medial portion is provided with alocking tongue projecting into the window opening toward the panel, saidstrips being foldable relative to said panel to overlie the ends ofcommodity resting upon the panel and said flap being foldable relativeto said strips to engage a side of the commodity while said tongue isfoldable relative to said fiap and is interlockable with a medialportion of the panel inwardly of its edge to maintain the band assembledabout the commodity.

3. A commodity confining and display band comprising, a unitary fiatblank of sheet material having a window opening bounded along one sideby a commodity supporting panel provided with a slit inwardly of itsedge and remote from the window and along its opposite side by a flapthe opposite ends of which are connected directly to the panel ends bywindow end bounding strips while its medial portion is provided with alocking tongue projecting into the window opening toward the panel, saidstrips being foldable relative to both said panel and said flap alonglines coinciding with opposed sides of said window opening and saidtongue being foldable relative to said flap along a line coinciding withthe line of fold of said flap and interlockable with said slit tomaintain the band asesmbled. r

4. Acommodity confining and display package assemblage comprising, aunitary blank of sheet material hav ing a window opening bounded alongone side by a panel provided with a slit and along its opposite side bya flap the opposie ends of which are connected directly to theReferences Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS BamberJuly 13, 1944 Petter Aug. 27, 1957

